


Herald

by SteelLily



Series: Angelic [2]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, angel!Nicole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 18:04:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7325149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteelLily/pseuds/SteelLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another of Nicole's abilities manifests.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Herald

“Seriously dad, you didn’t think this was something you should’ve sat me down and had a serious conversation about?” Nicole said into her phone.

She ran a hand through her loose wet hair before flopping backwards onto her bed. It had been a week of phone tag with her parents before Nicole had been able to finally get ahold of them. She felt like they were deliberately avoiding her: calling when they knew she would be in the middle of a shift, leaving voicemails that were supposed to be reassuring. Calamity Jane, her small calico cat, hopped onto the bed and kneaded Nicole’s stomach. She ran an idle hand over the cat’s back, listening to her father pile excuses one on top of the other. “We didn’t think you’d be the one to get abilities. It doesn’t manifest in every generation and usually the boys get the traits.”

“So did you talk about the possibility of all this with Nathan and Eric?” Nicole sighed.

“Well, no,” her dad admitted.

“Did you ever have any,” she searched for a word, “moments?”

“No, sweetie. Your granddad did. That’s why he moved us to the city. Thought getting us in the hustle and bustle would keep the supernatural stuff asleep if you know what I mean.”

“And where did Pappaw live before he moved you guys?” Nicole asked, already suspecting the answer.

Nicole’s father cleared his throat. She could imagine that he ran a calloused hand through his thick hair then scratched at the ever present stubble on his cheeks. “Right,” Nicole nodded, “Were you going to tell me any of this, ever?”

Nicole’s mother’s voice came over the line, “Sweetheart, if we had thought for a moment you’d have to deal with this, we would’ve told you, I promise. We didn’t keep you in the dark on purpose. I hope you know that.”

Nicole scratched under Calamity’s chin, “Yeah mom, I know you didn’t. It just would’ve been nice to know is all.”

“Darlin’, I put a package in the mail as soon as we got your message. It should get to you today or tomorrow,” her dad offered, “It’s all the stuff dad compiled just in case one of us manifested. When you said you were moving to Purgatory, I pulled the stuff out just in case. I never seriously thought…”

“Thanks dad.”

“You’re welcome kiddo. I’m sorry you gotta deal with this. We love you and if you decide you need to come home, you’ve always got a place here. Once dad got his wings, the angel stuff never went away totally but being in the city did help quiet it. We love you, angel.”

Nicole snickered and rolled her eyes, “I love you guys too.”

She clicked to end the call then dropped the phone on the bed next to her. Calamity mewed softly. Nicole took the cat’s face between her hands and lightly head butted her. Calamity pulled free looking entirely affronted then hopped off the bed. Nicole glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. It was her day off from the Sherriff’s office but she had an appointment to meet Dolls, Doc and Wynonna in an hour for “training.” If she wanted to make it on time, she needed to leave soon. They were meeting at the Earp homestead and it took all of thirty minutes to make the drive. Nicole pulled herself off the bed and rummaged through her dresser for a pair of loose fitting jeans that she could pull over her yoga pants. The trio had not explained what kind of training they would be undertaking today, but Nicole imagined since her hands seemed to be her weapons it would be some kind of hand to hand combat. She wanted to be prepared and so layers were the order of the day. Over a sports bra, she put on an emerald green tank top and on top of that a very oversized gray hooded sweatshirt. She threw her hair up in a quick ponytail, forsaking her usual braid and laced her running shoes tightly.

By the time Nicole pulled up to the homestead in her old pickup, it was five minutes til three. She took a deep breath and held it. When she exhaled, she said to herself, “Welp, here goes nothing.”

Doc stood outside the barn smoking a cigarette. He lifted his hat and nodded in Nicole’s direction. “Officer Haught,” he drawled, “Looking quite angelic today.”

Nicole rolled her eyes but smiled at him. “Everybody inside?” she nodded over his shoulder at the barn.

“Your particular treasure is busy in the homestead but Wynonna and Dolls are in the barn,” he grinned around the cigarette bobbing as he spoke.

Nicole turned around and smiled at Waverly who was sitting on the porch, wrapped in a thick blanket. Her phone in her pocket buzzed. Nicole took it out, “Come in when you all finish.”

Nicole grinned and nodded at Waverly. She turned back around to Doc who was stamping out his cigarette with his shoe. “You really should quit, you know? Those things’ll kill you,” Nicole said.

“My dear, there are a great many things that seek to kill me. A man must be allowed his vices.”

Doc opened the barn door and waved for Nicole to enter. She walked past him and patted his shoulder, if the man was hell bent on self-destruction, there was little she could do to curb that inclination. The barn was warmer than Nicole expected. The hay bales in the loft Doc had brought in kept some of the cold air at bay. His bed was pushed away into a corner and Wynonna’s inheritance, a gorgeous motorcycle, was resting in a stable and out of harm’s way. “Deputy Marshal, Wynonna,” Nicole nodded at the pair as she entered.

Nicole dropped her duffle bag near the door. “So,” she said.

“So,” Wynonna parroted.

Dolls looked up from a clipboard he was studying. “Haught,” he nodded, “Have you been able to reach your parents yet?”

“Yeah I talked to them today, finally,” Nicole said.

She stripped the hooded sweatshirt off and tossed it back to her bag. Nicole wore an oversized belt buckle. She laced her thumbs through the belt loops. “My dad sent a package with my granddad’s stuff. He said it should get here soon.”

Dolls nodded and clasped his hands behind his back, still holding the clipboard. “All right, first order of business is to see how much of your abilities you have access to and what stimulus you need to manifest them. With practice it’ll get easier. We’ll start with hand to hand,” Dolls nodded at Doc, “Then we will move on to weapon proficiency testing off site. Then flight.”

Nicole blinked slowly, “Shit. Okay. Let’s do this.”

Doc dropped his gun belt gently on top of his coat then laid his hat on top of that. He cracked his knuckles out in front of him and rolled his neck. Nicole slipped out of her jeans and folded them on top of her bag along with the sweatshirt. “Are we grappling or fist fighting or what?” Nicole asked as she stretched out her shoulders.

“Do you have any kind of fight training?” Dolls asked, clipboard back out and pen in hand.

“I have two brothers who took various martial arts over their lives and taught me a little here and there. I also took some kickboxing in college. Brought my gloves just in case,” she thumbed over her shoulder.

Dolls nodded and made notes on the paper. Wynonna tiptoed to look over his shoulder at what he wrote. She grimaced and muttered, “Suck up.”

Nicole ignored Wynonna’s jealousy and faced her opponent. Dolls nodded at Doc. Doc shuffled his feet and made loose circles with his fists in front of him. Nicole put up her own fists and shifted her weight onto her toes. She crouched slightly, keeping her left hand up by her ear and her right by her jaw. Doc swung a slow punch at Nicole’s face. She leaned to the side and swept his arm away from her then reset her stance. Doc led with his left this time. Nicole easily parried the first punch, redirecting it away from her body with her arm. The second punch, she jumped away from. The third clipped her in the ribs. She hissed and hazarded a glance at Dolls, “Am I just on the defensive or am I free to attack back?”

“Defense for now,” he replied, “Try not to let any blows land.”

“Gee thanks for that amazing advice,” Nicole mumbled as she reset herself.

Wynonna snickered, “Sis finally picked a winner.”

Nicole took a deep breath and followed Doc as he circled her. She dodged the soft punches he threw easily. When she paid attention to his shoulder movement rather than his fists, she could gauge when he was about to throw a real punch versus these little fakes he kept attacking with. Her patience was starting to run thin at being handled with kid gloves. Out of her periphery, she caught Dolls hand Wynonna the clipboard and nod at Doc. Nicole circled so that her back was not to either men. “Good,” Dolls chuckled, “Assess threats from every possible angle.”

Nicole dropped her hands slightly to widen her field of vision. Doc lurched forward with an uppercut. Nicole swiped with her left arm, guiding the punch away from her body. She turned to the side. Dolls swept out with his leg which Nicole hopped over easily enough. The men tried to get around in front of and behind Nicole while she leapt. As soon as she landed, Doc jabbed at Nicole’s face. She dipped her head below the punch and grabbed his arm, using his momentum to swing him forward in Dolls’ direction. “Good,” he laughed and gripped Doc by the shoulders to steady him.

Doc furrowed his brow, “The girl moves like water,” he spit at the ground in front of him.

The hair on the back of Nicole’s neck stood on end. She allowed herself to be distracted by Doc cursing. Nicole dropped down to the ground in time for Dolls’ arms to fly across where she had just been standing. He would have had her in a headlock if she had not managed to duck. She slid away from his body and rose. Doc lunged forward, wrapping Nicole in a bear hug. Nicole managed to keep her arms between herself and Doc. He attempted to lift her off the ground and she dropped all of her weight, at the same time sweeping her arms out away from her body. There was very little give in Doc’s grip on her but it was enough that she was able to elbow him in the stomach then head butt him. Doc stumbled back and swiped the back of his hand across his nose. He came away with blood. “Sorry, Doc,” Nicole apologized.

“No need to apologize, you got me fair and square,” he replied.

Sweat glistened on Nicole’s forehead. She turned her attention back to Dolls who was stalking around her. The barn door slid open, drawing Nicole’s attention briefly. Dolls lurched forward and drove Nicole into the floor, effectively pinning her. “Shit,” she coughed.

Waverly cringed, “Sorry.”

Dolls held Nicole pinned to the ground. “How are you going to get out of this?”

Nicole took a breath and closed her eyes. She felt all the points where Dolls had her restrained. She felt he was leaning more heavily on his right side. She shifted her shoulders back creating some separation between where he had her arms pinned and the floor. She cursed at herself, “I waited too long. Your weight is settled. I don’t know how to dislodge you.”

Dolls nodded and got up. He offered a hand down to Nicole to help her stand. “You did well. We can work on escape techniques later. Your instinct was right to try to use my weight and momentum against me though.”

Nicole wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. Waverly offered her a bottle of water which she took gratefully. She watched Dolls make notes again on the clipboard. Waverly leaned up and kissed Nicole’s cheek. “What do you think he’s writing?” she asked as she pulled away.

Nicole shrugged, “Probably an analysis of my skills. They did this at the police academy too. Well not really this specifically but they test your physical skills.”

Waverly’s eyes traced a trail of sweat down Nicole’s neck. Nicole watched her eyes and tried not to laugh. Waverly snapped out of her distraction. The tips of her ears pinked. Wynonna groaned, “Oh my god, Waves, get outta here ya horn dog.”

“Sorry,” Waverly replied with a giggle.

“You aren’t sorry at all, go,” Wynonna grumbled.

Waverly winked at her sister then held her hands up in surrender and made her way to the door. Nicole busied herself taking gulps of water and studiously avoiding the glare Wynonna leveled in her direction. “Okay, Haught, weapons,” Dolls broke the awkward silence.

Nicole nodded and put her sweatshirt back on then stuffed her jeans in her bag and waited at the door. Dolls collected his own duffle bag and Doc pulled another cigarette from a pack in the pocket of his button up shirt. “Y’all have fun,” he nodded and slipped out the back of the barn.

Wynonna clapped Nicole’s back, “Toy time.”

Nicole stopped short outside the barn doors. Her skin flushed gold unexpectedly. Her eyes darkened to onyx. Her head fell back and she opened her mouth in a silent scream. Dolls pulled Wynonna back from Nicole, giving her a wide berth. Nicole’s head turned toward the homestead, her eyes unseeing. She levitated off the ground, the outline of her pale wings shimmering behind her. Wynonna and Dolls instinctively shielded their eyes. Nicole’s body burned as brightly as the sun. She turned toward Wynonna and pointed down at the woman, “The one once thought dead has returned. She will cause division for she is no longer herself.”

Nicole fell to the ground and gasped as if she had been holding her breath. Her body shuddered and returned to its normal state. Nicole pushed herself up onto her knees. She coughed as she tried to steady herself. Waverly ran back out of the house toward Nicole. Wynonna intercepted her sister and held her back. “What the hell was that?” Nicole grimaced, “It feels like my lungs are on fire.”

“That was one of an angel’s most important abilities. Foretelling the future is a rare gift even among angels,” Dolls explained.

“Kinda regretting not paying more attention during Sunday School,” Nicole pushed herself up off the ground.

“Are you okay?” Waverly asked from the circle of Wynonna’s arms.

Wynonna let Waverly go when Nicole nodded. “Yeah. I think so. Is that gonna happen often? Cause that was not enjoyable.”

Dolls shrugged, “I have no idea. I’ve never actually worked with an angel before. Only read about them in briefings. We’re both flying pretty blind here.”

“Great. So business as usual,” Wynonna scoffed.


End file.
